


The Solar System

by PandoraButler



Series: Sherlock One-Shots [8]
Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock's POV, solar system conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandoraButler/pseuds/PandoraButler
Summary: This is the scene in "A Study in Scarlet" where Sherlock Holmes is explaining to Dr. Watson why he doesn't care about the solar system. The scene is originally written in Dr. Watson's point of view (naturally) so I wrote it in Sherlock's POV as an experiment.





	The Solar System

I cannot begin to express the levels of amusement this man has brought me. This is the first time, in a very long while, that I have experienced a conversation that was not incredibly tedious. Yes, I must confess, that I find myself enjoying this social interaction. Dr. Watson, (Was that his name?) considered me to be quite the show. I can tell from the look in his eyes, as well as the obvious body language, that he is completely enthralled with me. I can say with certainty that this has not happened before. The usual reactions upon meeting me are rather, well,  _ bleak _ , to say the least. The dust on his clothing and the wrinkles on his shirt suggest he does not go out of his home often. I do not think myself to be conceited, (though there are others that might think otherwise) but there is a possibility that he has not met a more interesting individual than I. He clearly enjoys the mystery surrounding me (even if I do not see said mystery myself) and I enjoy the normalcy of his character. I do hope that we see more of each other in the future. He could at  _ least _ be some sort of companion to me. Life does get boring on my own, after all. 

In any case, I have no obligation to provide information outside of what he requests. I should think that if people are left guessing as to who you are, the reality of who you may be can be ignored. Needless to say, I have done many a terrible deed that I wish to keep under wraps. I cannot go around telling everyone  _ everything _ about the nature of my business. I’m a detective and a scientist. What more is there to know? If need be, I shall go to great lengths to find answers to my questions. The more information I have, the better my inferences can be in the future. I see no reason to get a fancy degree when I can do all the work myself. I also see no need to learn information that will be useless to me, in all senses of the word. It is that simple fact that seems to astonish this good fellow. I smile at the bewilderment that shows so plainly on his face. Humans are so easy to read, if one has just memorized the right signs like I have. He need not be so surprised at the fact I did not know a thing about the Solar System. That information is irrelevant. When is something that takes place outside of the world in which I live going to be important? I have already determined the probability to be next to nothing, and so, that information can be deleted. If people deleted more of the information in which they so desperately cling to, perhaps the number of idiots in the world would decrease dramatically.

“You appear to be astonished,” I said. “Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it.”

“To forget it!” he gasps. Yes, to forget it. Is that not what I just said? Honestly, I never understood the need to  _ repeat _ things when an individual is shocked. What is it about saying something a second time? Is part of some secret code in human interaction? I do wish that someone would clue me in on this. I do  _ hate _ not knowing something that appears to be so obvious to everyone else. I imagine this is what they feel like when I say something is obvious but they do not understand what it is that I am referring to. 

“You see,” I began, “I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it,” I pause for dramatic effect, if you will, and allow my words to sink in. “Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones,” I finish. Although I have tried my best to explain why it is that I said ‘I should do my best to forget it’ I can clearly see that he cannot wrap his head around the simple fact that I do not care about what lies in space. Well, no individual can say that I did not try to explain myself. I fought a fair fight. I did my very best.

“But the Solar System!” he says. 

“What the deuce is it to me?” I reply. I do admit that at this point I am a tad impatient. I simply cannot stand when a discussion goes around in circles. There is no winning in this conversation. He will not understand my argument and I will simply never care about the Solar System! “You say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or my work,” I finish. I speak nothing but the truth. As I have stated before, what goes on outside of this planet is completely irrelevant to me!


End file.
